Bulgarian Parliament To Review Shale Gas Ban
Bulgaria's Parliament will set up this week a committee to revise the wording of a moratorium that effectively banned shale and conventional gas exploration in the country, economy minister Delyan Dobrev said.
The ad hoc committee's task will be to draft a more precise wording of the ban, which would allow companies to resume conventional gas exploration and will also decide the fate of shale gas extraction in Bulgaria, the minister said in an interview for the state-run Bulgarian National Television (BNT).
Dobrev said that if hydraulic fracturing proves to be environmentally safe, the ban should be lifted.
The moratorium on exploration and production of shale gas using the hydraulic fracturing or similar techniques was imposed by the Bulgarian Parliament on January 18, following nationwide protests.